My Fortnight in Beauty

It’s been a bit of a manic fortnight, what with a jazz party to attend (that takes a week out of the diary – four days there, plus three days to recover), and a feast of writing assignments after a bit of a famine.

Still, there have been opportunities to try out some new products – and discover a couple of new favourites. Undoubtedly my favourite find of recent times is the new collection of nail varnishes from Yves Saint Laurent.

YSL La Laque Couture (£18) is the name of this new polish and aside from the fact that it comes in 30 fabulous shades created to reflect the couture legacy as well as the contemporary creations of the house of Yves Saint Laurent, what I immediately loved about it was its brush which – during my long train journey from Glasgow to Norwich for my jazz party – enabled me to paint each nail very neatly and precisely with just one sweep.

I haven’t yet experimented with the YSL polishes on my toes – I haven’t needed to, as they’ve been sparkling with a Leighton Denny varnish that was applied by a pro, when I tried out the new Ila Luxurious Seaweed Foot Experience (£80) at The Blythswood Square hotel in Glasgow.

This new treatment turned out to be very relaxing – so much so that I drifted off a few times (possibly, at least once, mid-conversation!). It kicks off with a soothing footbath using nutrient salts and pure essential oils. Then the feet and lower legs are scrubbed with an exfoliator made using the oil from Scottish seaweed. The next stage is a massage using a deeply hydrating and nourishing oil, followed by a comprehensive pedicure which left my feet positively glowing – and undoubtedly ready for their close-up in summer sandals..

In addition to the YSL nail polishes, my other great find of the last fortnight is an exfoliator which makes me smile every time I use it. Can’t be a bad thing, can it? It’s not just that MAC Volcanic Ash Exfoliator (£18) is jet black, and makes me look like Al Jolson or a member of the chorus on The Black and White Minstrel Show. It’s because it reminds me of Annie Hall, one of my favourite Woody Allen films. Remember the black soap scene? (If not, scroll down to see a clip.)

As Annie explains to Alvy, the black stuff is good for her complexion – and my skin was certainly radiant after I’d used this unusual product (a cult favourite from MAC which had been limited edition but was reinstated due to popular demand) thanks to its combination of natural volcanic ashes and sugar crystals. Next time, though, I’ll warn the offspring before I put it on …

My Week in Beauty

MONDAY

Who knew that paradise had an outpost in Polmont of all places? Yes, almost halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh there is a spa which is as sumptuous and luxurious as any in either of the cities between which it nestles. The Macdonald Inchyra Hotel & Spa may not be in the most prepossessing of surroundings but it is a haven of tranquility, with a restaurant that achieved a rare 8/10 from the Sunday Herald’s not-easily-impressed food critic, Joanna Blythman, very comfortable rooms, and – most importantly – it has a spa, which I visited for the first time on Monday.

The French beauty company Decleor had invited me

to try a treatment that is exclusive to the Macdonald chain of hotels and
spas – and it was certainly worth the trip. Paradise Escape is the name of this two-hour “spa journey” which harnesses the benefits of a Madagascan fruit called the boabab. This fruit has six times more Vitamin C than orange and is grown on trees that are 80% water and live for 100 years..

The treatment begins with a full-body exfoliation using boabab seeds which smoothe and rejuvenate the skin. Then it’s on to the paradise part of the experience: a back, neck and shoulder massage using warmed balms and Decleor’s unique massage tool, the “Acacia Massager” which provides an intense massage. A gentle facial follows, and during the mask part, the therapist massages the legs and arms.

I must say, I drifted off to sleep several times during the treatment (always a good sign) and positively floated back to my room afterwards. My lovely therapist, Amanda, gave me some great skincare advice and no hard sell products-wise, and couldn’t have done more to ensure that it was as relaxing as possible. Indeed, the whole spa set-up is designed to ensure that guests feel as pampered as possible: I was particularly impressed with the candle-lit relaxation room, where you can chill out before and after your treatment – which was every bit as luxurious as others that I’ve experienced in much swankier/more expensive hotels.

* The Paradise Escape treatment costs £110 from Monday-Thursday and £115 from Friday-Sunday and is available from Macdonald Spa Hotels.  Rooms at the Macdonald Inchyra Hotel & Spa start at 71, and there is currently a special offer on for an overnight luxury spa break

WEDNESDAY
Being a natural-born sun-avoider who is happy to look pale, I am very popular with my tan-loving girlfriends since I often give them self-tanners to try out. My pal Siobhan has been using these products throughout our 22-year friendship so she was the ideal person to try a face tanner I was given a few months ago. Here’s her report on Sisley Self Tanning Hydrating Facial Care (£78):

“It has a nice light texture and has that adorable smell that some of their other skincare products have (I am thinking in particular of the Express Flower Gel which I was lucky enough to get from my sis a couple of years back). Anyway, it’s not like putting on a tanning product at all – a good thing. Having said that, it is so light in texture that I felt the need to apply a second layer of moisturiser over the top. The colour is pretty subtle and only started coming out after the second application – it suggests applying two-three times a week and I’d probably go for three. All in all very pleasing – I hadn’t used a face tan for a while so was quite tentative, but soon realised this was a subtle product in every way – smell, texture and colour-wise. A real treat to use for which many thanks!”

THURSDAY

The most glamorous night – oh, okay, the only glamorous night – in the Scottish jazz calendar is the Glasgow Jazz Festival’s fundraising ball. This year’s event took place on Thursday and it was very unusual to be wearing a full-length gown, rather than jeans, while hanging out with jazzers.

It seemed the perfect occasion to debut the latest gorgeous eyeshadow palette I’d been sent.    Dior 5 Couleurs Croisette Edition in Aurora (£41; from May 14) may comprise Riviera-inspired shades but they seemed to suit my distinctly non-Riviera-like colouring; the gold, ochre and brown eyeshadows look terrific with blue eyes and blonde hair, while the slightly scary burnt orange adds warmth and works well with a coral or red lipstick. Thankfully, I had been sent a replacement Sisley Eyelid Shading Brush (£38.50) – I lost mine earlier in the week – or I’d not have done such a professional job on the eye make-up!

My Week in Beauty

TUESDAY

I was going to review a show at the theatre on Tuesday evening but I went looking as if I was heading for a night at the opera – or something equally glam. Why? Because I had had a meeting with Melissa, the chic PR for Tom Ford Beauty, just beforehand – and I’d been treated to a mini-makeover at the TFB counter in Frasers in Glasgow.

Melissa was in town to preview the company’s new colour collection of molten-toned colour inspired, as she explained, by “the beauty of a radiant, bronzed face”.  As a paleface, I wasn’t
sure there would be anything for me in this range, but the four gorgeous Tom Ford Cream Color For Eyes (£28), in metallic shades, were all extremely tempting – and looked as if they would complement blue eyes beautifully. I went to the theatre wearing the shimmering Platinum colour which can be layered for a dramatic look. And you know what, it’s the first cream shadow I’ve used that lasted the pace – it was still in place at bedtime.

WEDNESDAY

Caroline, an Edinburgh-based friend and fellow jazz fan, hosted a dinner party at her new flat last week and invited some of the creme de la creme of the capital’s jazz scene to attend.

I found myself chatting about beauty buys with the singer Angie King. Last time we met, at Christmas, she expressed interest in trying the then-new Lancome serum Visionnaire, and, on Wednesday, I was struck by how luminous and youthful her complexion was. The secret, she revealed, was not Visionnaire (which she had never got round to trying) but Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair (£41; www.esteelauder.co.uk), which she has been using since we last. She would certainly be a great poster girl for this, the mother of all serums.

THURSDAY

I’m still searching for a luxurious beauty parlour like Sydney’s (left) – the lavish, Surreal-style, salon frequented by Ros Russell, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer and their cohorts in George Cukor’s wonderful 1939 film The Women. But while I’m searching, I’m more than content to have a regular treatments in one of the lovely Clarins Spas. On Wednesday, I had a change of venue: instead of going to the spa in Frasers, in Glasgow, I tried out its sister over in Debenhams. It’s just as attractive as the Frasers one, but a little more contemporary in its design. My Clarins Triactive Facial (from £60) was – as ever – just what the doctor ordered. It’s the perfect blend of results and relaxation: my skin looked energised afterwards, and I was well rested thanks to the thorough face, neck and shoulder massage.

FRIDAY

My hair has been feeling tuggy and a little dry at the ends so on Friday, with a few days to go before my hair appointment, I decided it was time to try out a product I’d only put off using because I thought it might be messy (and time-consuming). In fact, Ojon Damage Reverse Restorative Hair Treatment Plus (£16; www.ojon.co.uk) was easy (and not messy) to use.  You simply take a tiny amount of the solid, wax-like balm, warm it in your hands until it becomes an oil and work it through the hair. After 20 minutes you rinse it off. I found my hair’s texture had improved immeasurably, and the effects lasted several days – though, thankfully, the coffee bean-like smell of the product didn’t linger at all!

My Week in Beauty

TUESDAY

You may have seen this photo before but it seems the ideal one to use to illustrate my trip to Edinburgh on Tuesday night for a sumptuous dinner hosted by Estee Lauder’s press team. The reason it’s the ideal pic is that I was wearing the same dress – and just about half the journalists at the table in the exquisite Number One restaurant at the Balmoral were sporting the nail varnish I’m wearing here - Estee Lauder Pure Color Nail Lacquer in Teal Topaz (£14; www.esteelauder.co.uk).

The dinner was a 30th birthday celebration – not of a person, but of Lauder’s now-iconic serum, Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair, now going by the name of Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex (£41 ) and reformulated to harness the latest research in genetic ageing while holding true to its original mission of reducing the appearance of past damage from environmental assaults and preventing future damage.

While the press girls had us under the spell of champagne and Michelin-starred food, they also gave us a preview of their summer make-up. Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess 2012 – The Capri Collection goes on sale at Jenners, in Edinburgh this month, before it hits counters everywhere else in May – and Edinburgh ladies who passed the beauty squad post-dinner will undoubtedly be forming an orderly queue… We all had a play with the products – and went into the night smelling divine, thanks to the Bronze Goddess Luminous Liquid Bronzer (£27) we were trying on our hands and forearms….

WEDNESDAY

Eugh, I felt a wreck on Wednesday after a particularly disturbed sleep in a Holiday Inn
Express which had previously seemed very comfortable and quiet. I was awake every hour thanks to a combination of the racket coming from the room opposite, the noise of traffic on the stairs through the wall from me and my usual first-night restlessness when away from my own bed.

Anyway, the result was that despite having fused Kim Novak and Veronica Lake influences the night before, I looked more like Simone Signoret – at least in the heavy-lidded eye department – the morning after. Only one thing for it: Clarins Skin-Smoothing Eye Mask (£29.50; www.clarins.co.uk). This has turned out to be an absolute must-have for me lately as it seems to be the only way of waking up my eyes when the lids weigh heavy on them ..

THURSDAY

I took the train to London on Thursday for a quick visit to interview the wonderful singer-songwriter – and fashion plate – Melody Gardot whose new CD, The Absence (Decca), comes out at the end of May. Since I last met her three years ago, Melody has visited more countries than I’ve probably managed in the last 15 years – and she has absorbed musical and style influences wherever she’s been.

When she opened the door of her hotel suite to me, she was a vision in a fringed Lanvin dress and Moroccan-style turban into which her still long (she assured me) locks were tucked. The turban and 1940s-style shades were very Gloria Swanson-in-Sunset Boulevard – and I told her so. Apparently, I was the second person in a day to compare the 27-year-old to the great Gloria (the other comparison had been a vocal one) – but she couldn’t visualise Swanson, so before I left, I had to help find a photo..

Anyway, Melody’s make-up – as ever – was exquisite  (see the video below too); perfectly defined eyebrows sat above the retro specs, Hollywood red lips offset her newly nut-brown skin and her nails were painted a metallic sand shade which offset the camel colour of her turban and wrap. Having been on a train for five hours, I felt bedraggled by comparison but had at least made my own nod to glamour in the form of my Chanel’d nails (the April shade which has been my favourite for months now). I painted them on the train – a calculated risk, but worth taking since I had my handy Rituals Nail Varnish Corrector Pen (£6.90; from John Lewis and www.rituals.com)  with me…

SATURDAY

A girls’ night out for my friend Colette’s birthday and the occasion to wear a kaftan-style top I had exhumed from the depths of my wardrobe during a major spring clean gave me the perfect excuse to move on from April to, no not the May or June shades of Chanel nail polish – but one named Distraction.

Chanel Le Vernis in Distraction (£18) is part of Rose Ultimes de Chanel, a mini collection, coming out on May 11, of lip glosses and nail varnishes based around a pink theme. I have totally fallen for this gorgeous coral shade which is extremely pretty and very retro. And it went a treat with my top (shown below, in photo with my pal Lizzy) which has multi-coloured (including coral), Sergeant Pepper-style, frocking.  With two coats, it’s perfect against pale skin like mine .. Goodbye April, hello Distraction!

My Week in Beauty

SATURDAY

A last-minute invitation to attend a black tie charity dinner on Saturday night was the perfect occasion for me to get a second wear out of my bargain evening gown (bought last May for my first-ever formal jazz event) and a first wear out of some fab new Dior make-up I’d been sent.

I’d come across this photo of the lovely January Jones amongst the publicity for the new series of Mad Men, which got underway last week, and once more she proved to be a great inspiration – though at the last minute I switched to dark pink lips (Dior’s Rouge d’Or in Nocturne, from their limited edition Christmas collection, since you ask) as I just looked too washed out…

Anyway, my take on the 1966 Mad Men look involved using the paler shades in the classic Dior 5 Couleurs in Greige (£40), which has become my favourite palette lately, and the fabulous Dior 360 degrees Revolving Mascara (£29.50), an extremely easy-to-use mascara which does a terrific job of curling the lashes for a dramatic effect.

MONDAY

Since running out of my Chanel skincare a few weeks ago, I have been using some new products from another of my favourite French beauty brands – Guerlain. They have just relaunched their Super Aqua range of hydrating skincare and I’ve been enjoying getting reacquainted with their lovely textures and, especially, their distinctive, rose, scent. The fact that I’ve had more than a few compliments on my skin is a bonus.. I’ve been using the new Guerlain Super Aqua-Lotion (£30), a softening and hydrating toner, and the newly reformulated Guerlain Super Acqua-Serum (£65.50), which was already one of my favourite serums and is now better than ever..

The 2012 version of Super Aqua-Lotion harnesses Guerlain’s newfound awareness of the ageing effects of water pollution on the skin’s cells. The result is a serum which simultaneously hydrates and plumps up the skin, as the product reactivates the skin’s natural water purification process, thus allowing the flow of cell life to continue without disruption – ie, less chance of wrinkle outbreaks!

WEDNESDAY

I didn’t get round to trying out the new Benefit High Brow Glow (£14) in time to use it at the charity dinner on Saturday but I would probably have avoided it anyway: I’m not a big fan of the shimmering brow bone look, though I can appreciate the way a highlighter can enhance the bone structure. This easy-to-use, creamy pencil certainly does that and offers a champagne coloured alternative to the original, cult classic – the linen-pink shade of High Brow. Mind you, £14 seems quite a lot to pay for something that comes – albeit in powder form – in most eye shadow palettes.

THURSDAY

I finally got round to trying out the latest body treatment from Clarins on Thursday. The Clarins Melting Hone Hot Stone Massage (from £60) is not the most relaxing treatment I’ve had – but it was certainly extremely effective at ironing out the myriad knots in my muscles. It turns out that not only do I carry a load of tension in my neck, shoulders and back (which I knew) but also in my right foot. Go figure.

The therapist uses nine stones, in four different shapes, to carry out a deep and very precise massage – the shape of the stone and the amount of heat it can carry determines where it is used. Unlike some hot stone treatments, where the stones are placed on particular spots on the body; these ones are designed to be an extension of the therapist’s hands. The honey massage gel – available in two formulas, one for relaxing and one for invigorating – is massaged on initially as a barrier for the heat, and it melts into an oil as the massage unfolds before transforming into a very moisturising milky emulsion.

The effects were still evident several days later – though I do now crave a facial with back massage where I can completely switch off and not be flipped over half-way through as happens in a body treatment….

FRIDAY

A low-key dinner with a friend in Edinburgh seemed just the right occasion to try out the Incognito shade of  Dior Vernis Extreme Wear Nail Lacquer (£17.50). It’s very appropriately named, this shade which looks sort of putty-like on first application but then takes on a slightly lilac hue with a second coat. In fact, it’s very reminiscent of Chanel’s Rose Cache and Rose Confidentiel – and the name is inkeeping too!

The corresponding Dior Addict Extreme lipstick (£24) would have been perfect for the January Jones look (above), but I need just a bit more colour to prevent me from looking pale and of interest only to a mortician …

My Week in Beauty

MONDAY

It seemed a little like spring had sprung on Monday and I celebrated by experimenting with what I think is possibly the loveliest and freshest of the spring make-up collections: Dior’s “Garden Party”.

Entirely inspired by the colours found in a garden (probably Christian Dior’s famous garden on the cliff edge of Granville, in Normandy), it includes two beautiful eyes-and-lips palettes in the shape of a dinky clutch purse, and two exquisite new colourways in the famous 5 Couleurs eye shadow compact.

Mind you, the product which has seen the most action here is the Dior Skinflash Primer in Sheer Glow (£28.50), a brilliant make-up primer which imbues the skin with a flattering radiant glow thanks to its cocktail of minerals and hyaluronic acid which banish shadows and signs of fatigue.

TUESDAY

And speaking of Dior, how about this for a spring-time nail colour? Not only does Dior Vernis in Waterlily (£18) look fresh and pretty (with one coat; with two it takes on a pea-green appearance), but it also smells of the flower after which it’s named.

I’m not quite as smitten with it as I am with the next batch of Dior nail colours (see last week), but it is lovely – and will look especially fab on my more sallow-skinned pals.

Dior seems to be having a bit of a make-up moment just now: the new Dior Addict Extreme lipsticks look set to be my summer staples – watch this space..

WEDNESDAY

Some seasons we beauty journalists find our in-trays resemble mountains of mascaras, other times it’s lipsticks that we are sent by the barrel-load. This spring there’s a bit of a blusher bonanza going on – and all sorts of variations on the theme, from the YSL Voile de Blush (£28), a gel blusher which I mentioned a couple of weeks back, to Clarins Instant Light Blush (£19; www.clarins.co.uk), a creamy cheek tint, and the Estee Lauder Pure Color Blush (£24; www.esteelauder.co.uk),  a traditional powder blusher

I was definitely in need of some help in the healthy-looking complexion department last week. Suffering from a period from hell, I was washed-out and pale – the perfect blusher guinea pig. I found the Clarins blusher a little scary to begin with – it’s fairly thick and creamy so the colour looks very strong. I tried the Vitamin Pink shade (left) which was a bit too intense; Coral Tonic will serve me better when I need a complexion pick-me-up (and it does have skincare benefits), but a little definitely goes a long way and you have to practise the blending before you leave home wearing it.. Ditto for the new Estee Lauder powder blusher which has a strong pigment and comes in two finishes – satin and the ultra-flattering shimmer.

 

FRIDAY

On Friday, I made a long-overdue return visit to the Elemis SpaPod in Debenhams, in Glasgow, for one of their famous 30-minute Power Booster Facials. I had a different facial this time – the Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing one. It sounds pretty daunting; in fact, the resurfacing bit sounds more appropriate to roadworks than a beauty treatment ..

Nevertheless, once the pesky “Intelligent Massage Chair” – the thing that flings you about like Bronco Billy in full swing – was switched off, this was (as before) a very relaxing half hour. My dreamy state was slightly compromised by an awareness that my skin was tingling and burning a little and I momentarily wondered if I was having an adverse reaction to the one of the products being used. However, I needn’t have worried: my skin looked fabulous afterwards. Not a hint of the redness I had been expecting, and it did indeed feel smoother and softer.

 

Style on Film: Laura

Apart from David Raksin’s lovely theme tune, I’m not much of a fan of Otto Preminger’s newly re-released 1944 noir melodrama Laura – about the investigation into the murder of a beguilingly beautiful young woman played by the luminous Gene Tierney (above, with Vincent Price) – but I do love most of its heroine’s style. The wardrobe sported by Tierney, and designed by Bonnie Cashin, is much softer and less tailored than the clothes worn by other 1940s female characters in film. Here’s how Laura looks when her admirer, the acerbic newspaper columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb) recalls first meeting her, when she was 17.On the night that seals Laura’s “doom” – when she meets smooth-talking southerner Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price in an especially annoying performance as an especially annoying character) – she’s a vision in a cowl-necked, hip-hugging, vaguely Grecian-style evening dress which is accessorised with  a brooch on one shoulder and an elegant cuff.Here it is again, this time in a studio publicity shot … A successful advertising agency executive, Laura might be expected to be kitted out for the office in sharp suits and angular hats – but, as if to reinforce her image as a gentle, kind-hearted creature, she is only seen wearing almost informal workgear (simple sweaters and skirts) and floppy, cloche-like hats. Here she is getting ready to leave the office wearing the hat which Shelby tells her he “approves of”. When she visits the jealous Waldo shortly afterwards, Laura wears this stripy tunic top with a peplum – how 2012 is that? From the start of the film, everyone thinks that Laura has been murdered. The cop investigating the case, McPherson (Dana Andrews), becomes so obsessed by her that he is sleeping in her apartment when she turns up alive after weekending in the country – an angelic vision in a white raincoat and another coquettish, floppy cloche hat. Weirdly, Laura seems more dressed up in the morning, when she’s making breakfast – in her broad-shouldered kimono jacket, palazzo pants and high heels – than she does for going out to work… Another unusual outfit is the pencil skirt and tunic ensemble Laura wears for a little soiree in honour of her homecoming, towards the end of the film. The top with drawstring, peasant-style neck, bracelet-length sleeves and is tightly fitted over the hips and tummy – and it’s quite unlike anything the other female characters are wearing in this film, or any other of the era. Laura wears it with only a diamond ring and a sparkling cuff – and outshines every other dame (as McPherson would say) in the room. When she’s taken to the station for questioning, she throws a matching shawl round her neck.There is one rival in the style stakes in this movie: Laura’s socialite aunt, Ann Treadwell (played by Judith Anderson, best remembered as dowdy and creepy Mrs Danvers in Rebecca). When we first meet her, she is sporting a sarong and a black top accessorised with a series of surrealist-style brooches.